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An Invitation to Attend Hispanic Retail 360 Summit

San Antonio is a city symbolic of the demographic changes sweeping America.

August 6, 2014, 02:10 pm
By Armando Martin, XL Edge

On behalf of all our friends at Stagnito Business Information, I extend a calurosa bienvenida to all attending the 10th annual Hispanic Retail 360 Summit on Aug. 13-15. I also send a sincere invitation to those who are still considering attending the event.

If you’ve never attended the Hispanic Retail 360 Summit, you’re in for a real treat. Over the years, I’ve had the honor and pleasure to emcee, as well as co-host the event.

This year, the conference will be held in San Antonio. According to Mark Hugo Lopez, director of Hispanic research at the Pew Research Center, a demography study held in 2012 showed that Texas was projected to be the second state where Hispanics would be the largest ethnic group — 38 percent Hispanic and 44 percent white non-Hispanic.

San Antonio has long been known for its beauty and charm, rooted in deep Mexican culture. Indeed, even today, San Antonio is a city of Hispanic majority: 63 percent. But it’s a city that embraces diversity of all kinds.

San Antonio is home to one of the nation’s largest turnouts for the annual Martin Luther King celebrations — this February, 150,000 people were in attendance for the march. It’s estimated that the African-American population is 7 percent, but there is a citywide interest in supporting and encouraging diversity.

This makes San Antonio a great place to hold the Hispanic Retail 360 Summit. Beyond its cultural attractions like the Alamo and the enchanting River Walk, San Antonio is symbolic of the changes sweeping across America at a rapid rate, not just in population but also in cultural mindset.

There is a truth and honesty that is no longer being ignored by merchants and marketers. American consumers have changed and will never return to a homogenous, single general market. Rather, it will remain a mix of large subgroups that defy simple population, gender, age and economic counts.

The Hispanic Retail 360 Summit is one of the best single gatherings of the year to learn about commonalities, trends, changes in retail and Hispanic consumers.

Experience things firsthand by signing up for the annual neighborhood tours led by XL market experts visiting local stores. Juan Carlos Davila, senior vice president and general manager of Hispanic Market for Nielsen, gave one of last year’s most stirring presentations and will begin this year with a presentation entitled "Going Beyond the Total Market and Engaging the Evolving Hispanic Consumer." We also have the opportunity to sit in on a discussion featuring Angel Colón from Kroger, Javier Delgado from Walmart and Tom Herman from Northgate Gonzalez.

The insight continues with Thursday morning’s presentation from executives at Curacao who will share a truly remarkable story of a company believing in the power of the Hispanic community. The concurrent sessions will offer presentations by leaders in the industry, such as research expert Carlos Santiago from Santiago Solutions and José Villa from Sensis leading a working group on the myriad opportunities in social media. We will also hear from executives from well-known brands such as Subway, neighborhood marquees like Pizza Patron, Sav-A-Lot and Goodwill, as well as a stirring Horatio Alger-type story by PepsiCo’s Richard Montañez.

I invite you to join us at the Hispanic Retail 360 Summit. As the co-founder of a leading retail strategy and activation firm specializing in cross-cultural marketing, I am pleased to attend such a dynamic event to learn upcoming trends from industry experts, network and build enduring relationships. I look forward to meeting you and connecting with you there!

By Armando Martin, XL Edge

About Armando MartinXL EdgeArmando Martin is co-founder of XL Edge/XL Alliance, a leading retail strategy and activation firm, and also serves as a senior marketing and cultural insights consultant to the Kroger family of stores.